Russia's Fix Price has set its initial public offering (IPO) target range at $8.75-$9.75 per global depositary receipt (GDR), the discount retailer said on Monday, implying a market capitalisation of $7.4 billion-$8.3 billion (€6.14 billion-€6.88 billion).
Fix Price, which operates more than 4,000 stores in Russia, as well as an online platform, announced its IPO plans last month aiming to capitalise on its growing popularity as the pandemic reduces many Russians' spending power.
The company, which operates more than 4,200 stores and made a 2020 net profit of RUB 17.6 billion roubles (€200 million), said it will offer up to 170 million GDRs.
That implies an offer size of around $1.5 billion-$1.7 billion, Fix Price said, adding that the final offer price would be announced on or around March 5.
Cornerstone Agreements
Fix Price said the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC, funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, and Dutch pension investor APG had entered into cornerstone agreements to acquire GDRs totalling $475 million, subject to certain conditions.
"We have been pleased with the strong response to the Fix Price story from the investment community," Fix Price CEO Dmitry Kirsanov said in a statement.
Fix Price said last month that BofA Securities, Citigroup, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley and VTB Capital had been engaged to act as joint global coordinators and bookrunners.
News by Reuters, edited by ESM. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
